Hawker Hunter
in Detail

n by Frank Spahrn photos by Martin Waligorski

Elegance and
Longevity: Hawker Hunter

The Hawker Hunter is a classic plane with a long and exciting history.
It was designed between the close of WW II and the Korean War, the latter
even hastening (and complicating) its development, in the real beginnings
of the „blowtorch" era, a period when the basic features of jet
fighters – many of them still valid - had to be designed. Notably of
interest with the Hunter is its adaptability to different roles and hence
its long service life despite the even increased pace of development.

The first prototype Hunter was aerodynamically cleaned up and
reconfigured for a world speed record attempt in 1953 by installing a
stronger engine with reheat, twin airbrakes and a pointed nose cone.
Painted in a high gloss bright red scheme, it set a (short standing) world
speed record at 709.22 mph over a 100 km course.

Basically, the Hunter was designed as an air superiority fighter. It
was to be armed with the then standard four Hispano 20 mm guns, which was
later changed to 30 mm Aden guns. The maiden flight of the first prototype
took place on 20 July 1950, but it was only 1953 that the first production
planes were introduced with RAF squadrons.

Development of the Hunter had been pressed forward under "Super
Priority" conditions following the appearance of the then superior
MiG 15 jet fighter in Korea, but as it turned out, the Korean war was over
before the Hunter could be deployed. As a consequence of the speed-up
development, several design flaws appeared only in the production planes
and had to be cured the hard way. Main problems were the very short range,
a strong tendency to nose pitch-downs caused by the use of the flaps as
airbrakes and several problems with the guns.

The early Hunters were retired after only five years and replaced by
improved variants. The F.4 and F.5, introduced in 1955 (produced by Hawker
and Armstrong-Whitworth respectively and equipped with Rolls-Royce or
Armstrong powerplants) had an improved internal fuel capacity plus
reinforced wings with provisions for underwing stores (fuel tanks, bombs
or rockets) and the link collector blisters.

The final fighter variant was the F.6, equipped with a 10,000 lb thrust
Avon engine. The higher thrust effected the necessity of several
aerodynamical modifcations, outwardly most notable a redesigned wing with
leading edge extensions and blast deflectors on the gun muzzles. As an
interceptor, the Hunter was soon outperformed and replaced by the English
Electric Lightning, which was a fully supersonic plane whereas the Hunter
had to go into a dive to become supersonic.

The Hunter´s role with the RAF changed to ground attack purposes in
the 1960´s. The main ground attack variant was the FGA.9 with reinforced
wings until it was replaced by more advanced planes in the 70´s. Hunters
were still used in various secondary roles in ever diminishing numbers
well into the 80´s by the RAF and the RN plus several smaller
establishments.

The Hunter was an even bigger success as an export than at home.
Beginning with the Swedish Air Force in 1954, it was exported in literally
dozens of countries on nearly every continent, including India, Chile and
Somalia, just to mention a few of the more exotic. Several European
countries license-built the Hunter at times, and Switzerland employed it
as a first-line plane even far into the 90ies. Last but not least, many
aerobatic teams throughout the world have used Hunter at times.

In 1954 120 Hawker Hunter Mk 50s were purchased by the Swedish Air
Force. Mk 50 was the export designation for Mk 4s destined for Sweden.
Swedish designation became J 34. The aircraft equipped the two wings in
Stockholm, F 8 at Barkarby and F 18 at Tullinge, each of which got 60
aircraft during 1955-57.

The Hunter presented below has been preserved
in Swedish Air Force museum in Linköping.

Hawker J 34 Hunter
Mk.50 in detail

J34 on display in Linköping
Swedish Air Force museum. The finish is that of Dark Green over
Light Grey, typical of all Hunters in the Swedish service.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Unlike their British counterparts,
the Swedish Mk.50s lacked the wing leading edge "dogtooth". The
leading edge is completely straight from the outer end of wing root
intake to the tip.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Typical for British aircraft,
Hunter's cockpit and canopy were relatively small with limited space for
the pilot. Therefore an extra prominent feature of this view is the
ejection seat. The type used in Hunters was Martin Baker Mk.3.

Of note is also a row of small vents behind the sliding part of the
canopy.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Front view of the windscreen with
reflector gunsight showing through.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

The armament of Mk.50 consisted of
four 30 mm Aden cannon, concentrated in the lower part of the nose. Later
the J34 could also carry two underwing missiles.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Ejection chute collector blister.
Originally, it had been feared that the spent shells from the guns might
damage the fuselage, but flight trials showed that it was rather the belt
links that could do damage. The spent links were later collected in
ventral blisters, nicknamed Sabrinas after some well-developed
photo model of those days.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Port engine air intake.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

The business end of Rolls-Royce
Avon..

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Tail
configuration. Note the very smooth skin finish with panel lines almost
undistinguishable.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Ventral air brake in retracted
position, its inner detail showing.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Landing flap of the starboard wing
in fully lowered position.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Nose undercarriage and (again)
muzzle fairings of the two starboard Aden cannon.

Another view of the (port) main
wheel well, regrettably a poor exposure. Nevertheless it provides a good
view of the inner undercarriage cover and it's closing mechanism.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Main undercarriage leg. Of note is
the "thin" wheel, matching the depth of the wheel wells.

Photo: Martin Waligorski

Modelling the
Hunter

The Hunter has always been a thankful modelling subject, given the
number of variants and their often colourful paint schemes. My second
plastic model ever built was an 1/72 Airfix Hunter, molded in black which
made the roundels look cool in contrast (no painting then) and with lots
of external stores which I mercilessly glued under the wings, still not
really understanding that there was a matter of choice involved between
tanks, bombs or rockets ...

The most famous new Hunter kit was presented by Revell some two years
ago in 1/32 scale. Not having built it yet, I can only rely on the
enthusiastic reviews I have read, and pending sufficient space, it´s a
must for me. The kit depicts either an FGA. Mk 9 or the final Swiss
variant, an F. Mk 58, incorporating more than 1100 modifications since the
first purchase in 1958.

Summary: The Hunter is a real classic, graceful and rather clean in its
construction, and I guess one should be able to produce a one-of-a-kind
model using easily available references. What about a Lebanese or Somali,
a Rhodesian or Kenyan Hunter, or one of the many aerobatic ones?

n

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